Author's Note: Welcome to the story! I felt like writing something Christmas-y to get in the spirit of the holidays and this little idea came to mind. As a note this doesn't follow the books and I will try to keep the characters in character when possible although they will probably be a little OOC. Take a read and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything remotely related to Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.

Heartbeat

By: Cardea Ceres

AU No Voldemort. "Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other." - Euripides. They always noticed each other, but it took betrayal for them to really see each other. HGxDM Chrimstas fic.

Hermione Granger could already feel the migraine starting to warm up once again in her skull. Fabulous, she sarcastically commented as she turned off her morning alarm. She had been so hopeful when she had woken up that its weekend long residence had dissipated. Not so much unfortunately. The moment clarity reached her sleep clouded brain the past forty eight hours had flown by in her mind's eye: The letter, Harry hugging her, the papers, the reporters wanting comments, and tears so many tears. In an instant the brightest witch of the century had been reduced to nothing more than a puddle, and it had killed her. She should've seen it coming. It was foolish of her to think things were on the right track.

The smashed diamond ring on her bedside table was one of the many items in her room that illustrated her instantaneous reaction. Papers were everywhere and meal plates were stacked on the desk within her room. All the reasons why the migraine had begun its reign of terror were strikingly clear again. Tonight she would have to clean up all this mess. Sighing she stumbled to find the proper potion she'd need to get through the day. Only one more day and everyone would be free for winter holiday.

While the idea of winter holiday usually put her in a good mood she couldn't muster up any happy thoughts about the break. After all the hurt of the past weekend, it had effectively shattered all her usual holiday plans. Harry had already tried to cheer her up, but she had rejected all his options and offers. There was no way she could stay with Harry and Ginny during Christmas. As fun as it sounded it was James' first Christmas and she couldn't intrude on that. Her own parents had already planned a vacation out of the country for the holidays with open ended plane tickets that she gotten them for their anniversary the past summer. There was no way she was going to tag along or even hint what had happened over the weekend and spoil their trip. It all added up to the same conclusion: She'd have to unpack her belongings because she no longer would be travelling to the Burrow as she always had. Instead having Christmas at the castle was her only option, alone.

It wouldn't be so terrible she tried to tell herself. Plenty of her students stayed behind for the Christmas holidays and they seemed to enjoy it. She just wondered what she occupy her time with. Only a couple things came to mind unfortunately. All of her Christmas shopping still needed to be done and she was sure the Holiday Ball for the students staying behind at the castle would need chaperones. Her thoughts cursed her organizational skills. All she had left to do was to score and record the current day's exam. She had already graded all her students' previous materials and recorded their scores. The lesson plans for rest of the year had been completed during the summer. In essence she had nothing to do on the work end once she finished exams. The idea of doing absolutely nothing during break felt unreal and unsafe to her. Yet at the same time a small feeling of excitement came over her. It could be fun to not have to do anything…

Shaking her head she refused to believe this nonsense of a break full of freedom. Obviously the migraine was distracting her. There was always work to do, it had been drilled into her as a child, always. Maybe she could find a research grant, or look up opportunities to do during the summer, or lock herself up in the library to think about next year's lesson plans. Once all the students had left and she could throw herself into her work she'd find something. She always did.

Checking the clock she began to speed up her morning preparations. The potion would work better with some food in her stomach, and if she didn't hurry she'd miss breakfast entirely. Although she had dreaded this the whole weekend since learning the news, it wasn't as if she could hide out forever. She was a professor and had a job to do. Sighing again she took in her appearance and gave herself a couple finishing touches. There, she thought, you don't look like someone who spent the past two days crying like someone out of a romantic comedy. Thank Merlin, you look like a professor. She looked like she always had for the past year on any given school day: Professional, calm, and cool. Anyone off the street wouldn't have a clue what was going on in her head, and that was exactly what she wanted her students to see. It wouldn't do her any good to have her personal life mix with her professional life. Sighing she pushed open the door to her quarters and made the journey to the Great Hall.

It was hard to ignore the whispers that followed her as she made her way to the professors' table in the great hall. She knew they all had read the papers. It was just what students did in the morning: read the paper, gossip, eat, and repeat. They were at no fault for being curious and wondering what the true complete story was. Ever since she had made best friends with Harry Potter during first year her life was closely monitored. It was a simple fact of life now. A paper wanted a statement in response to something Harry had accomplished? A magazine wanted the truth on a rumor about Harry and Ginny's marriage? No problem. By now she was very accomplished at perfecting statements to release to the press and how to handle them.

Although when it came to the press dealing with stories directly about her it never made much sense, at least to her. She knew out of the bunch of them she was the most "boring". It was no secret that her life was a recipe for the perfect good girl: Graduating at the top of her class, accepting a teaching position at Hogwarts after a few years of travelling to some specialty training, and up till this weekend she had the perfect long term boyfriend to complete to picture. Her careful bypass of any teenage temptation that somehow seemed to plague all her classmates added up to a slow news day when it came to her. The most attention she garnered was when she had won an award or a mention in a photograph where the whole gang was attending something together. Today though she wanted to yell at the press and tell them to leave her the hell alone. Couldn't she have a second without an owl tapping at her window? Finally she understood why the media was a source of constant annoyance for Harry. Truly she could empathize with him instead of simply feeling bad for him as she always had. Speaking of Harry she knew his gaze was fixed on her. She imagined they both shared the same expression on their faces. It had thrilled her beyond words when Harry had been brought on as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. When Harry and Ginny decided to start a family they knew they couldn't continue their Qudditch days. With a glowing recommendation on Hermione's part and an excellent interview on Harry's he was hired on the spot. He had been such a comfort this past weekend, along with Ginny who had come down as soon as she got word of what had happened. It certainly helped to have your best friend be your co-worker as well.

Many of her Gryffindors gave her looks of concern and she tried to give a strong smile in response. They all had one more exam to complete and she didn't want them worrying about her. It had been such a honor for McGonagall to hand the reigns of the house over to her, a complete dream come true. They were such a lovely bunch.

Before she knew it she had taken her usual seat at the professors' table, next to Harry. She was relieved that a paper hadn't been placed in her seat, and she was grateful when none of the other professors mentioned the articles in the papers. McGonagall immediately gave her a concerned look, but kept a respectful distance. Hagrid almost got out of his seat as if he was planning to hug her when she arrived at the table, but she had waved him off with a smile. Although it was clear all the faculty had questions, it was also clear they wanted Hermione to talk about it on her terms. This kind of sensitivity surprised her especially considering how some of the professors liked to gossip, and was outright shocking coming from such professors like Snape. She expected him to be leading the parade of taunting and snide remarks against her. It was the perfect ammunition for him to completely tear her down. Hermione Granger never failed at anything, how many times had he been told that? Any statement he made against her would've reduced her to being a first year failing her first exam and she knew he knew that. She was tempted to give a nod of respect to him, but thought better of it. With my luck I'd jinx it, she thought.

Harry held up a plate of bagels and she smiled at him as she reached for one. Usually she always found the food enjoyable, but today she barely noticed the taste. She was eating because it was what she should do, not because it's what she wanted to do. It wouldn't look good for her not to eat, and it would only put her in a crabby mood later. Harry gave her a wondering glance and it was then she finally spoke.

"I'm fine." His gaze continued still, questioning her. It was obvious he didn't believe her. He knew she was putting on a strong front in front of her fellow employees and in front of her students. Here she was at work, she couldn't be Hermione a normal girl who spent the whole weekend looking like someone had smashed her wand. Instead she had to be Professor Granger, acclaimed witch and strict rule follower. It crushed him to be able to read her that well. He honestly wished he could believe her strong façade.

"Seriously I'm fine." She said using a tone that meant to stop asking questions. He was at a loss as to what to do. On one hand he wanted to wring his best friend's neck for breaking the other best friend's heart. What Ron had done was completely uncalled for and came out of left field. There was no doubt in his mind that the Weasleys were Team Hermione and were hunting down Ron. Yet he could sympathize with Ron. Honestly he had never pictured Ron and Hermione as the perfect couple but he had kept quiet because they seemed happy enough. He had heard both sides of their love story and he could see how everything had happened the way it had. It was a confusing place to be in. So he chose the only option he had: Stay in the moment and support the friend who was there with him.

It was then that Draco Malfoy walked into the Great Hall and the whispers started up again. The final piece of the puzzle had come to breakfast. Much like Hermione he was flawlessly dressed and his face was set in his normal unemotional stance. The only hints that he was connected to the situation at hand were the light red rimming of his eyes and his choice of attire, all black. He avoided the stares of everyone and headed directly to the Professors' table to start his breakfast.

Hermione let out the breath she didn't even know she had been holding and grabbed a hold of Harry's hand. He squeezed it in return. A few minutes later the plates were starting to be cleared and breakfast was declared over. Harry gave her an encouraging smile to signal that she had survived what was probably the toughest part of the day. She managed a smile in return. They had to part ways at the end of the Great Hall to go to their respective class rooms and it killed Harry to have to watch her walk alone down the corridor. But Hermione kept putting one foot in front of the other and she figured that had to count for something right?

Stopping outside her classroom door she stood up straight and squared her shoulders. Just have to get through today. Just have to get through today.